Organic blues and jazz on tap at The Homestead

These cats can play. That will be obvious when Randy Marsh, Clif Metcalf and Lee Heerspink perform at Music On The Mountain July 22. The next show in The Homestead’s music series at the top of Bay Mountain features the threesome, a.k.a. Cat Daddy, performing music that recalls everything from the soul-jazz of the ’60s and ’70s to modern sounds. Music is life for Marsh. If he’s not drumming up a storm somewhere, maybe it’s because he’s put down the sticks to showcase his harmonica playing. Or he’s working on his next gig, whether with Cat Daddy, Big Fun, the Jeff Haas Trio, or one of the many other musical entities he performs with.

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Nancy I. Foster Retrospective exhibition opens at Oliver Art Center

The Oliver Art Center is pleased to host “Threads of a Life”,  a retrospective exhibition of paintings by Nancy I. Foster from July 18 through August 21. A lifelong painter and Oliver Art Center Member Artist, Nancy’s paintings have been exhibited throughout the western and midwestern United States and are held in both private and corporate collections. Throughout the years, Foster has lived and painted in San Francisco, urban Chicago, and northwest Michigan. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 18 from 5-7 pm. Refreshments will be served, and all members of the public are welcome to attend.

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Smoked out: Friday events canceled in Leelanau

The catastrophic wildfires in Minnesota and Canada, and resulting poor air quality over Michigan, has prompted local businesses and organizations to cancel the following events in Leelanau County today. Those cancelations include: Tour de Tart, Empire Anchor Day’s Friday night movie, Beach Bards bonfire, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore ranger programs, Lake Street Studios today, Glen Arbor Arts Center at Thoreson Farm Studio, and Leelanau Conservancy outdoor events. We’ll update this list throughout the day and the weekend.

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Sleeping Bear Equestrian Club: no horse required

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A horse is a horse, of course, of course but what image does “equestrian club member” conjure up? Affluence, designer gear and prestige speak to the stereotype that one local club is turning on its head. Founded just over a year and a half ago, the Sleeping Bear Equestrian Club achieves a unique goal for Northern Michigan: creating one organization where every kind of horse enthusiast—regardless of discipline, experience level or even horse ownership—is welcome. The club serves the regions of Leelanau, Benzie, Antrim and Grand Traverse. Debunking the myth that equestrians require deep pockets, its membership rates start at $10.

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Empire Anchor Day Festival returns Saturday—but movie canceled Friday

Empire will holds its annual Anchor Day Festival this weekend, but with a shortened schedule of events, given the shoddy air quality due to the wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota. Tonight’s movie at the Township Hall is canceled since the building has no air conditioning and air quality over Leelanau County might not improve until tomorrow. The parade, chicken dinner, and an evening street dance scheduled for Saturday, July 18, are still on. Stay tuned for updates, and click here for a lineup of events.

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Video spotlight: Young journalist documents Northport fireworks

Twelve-year-old Tanner Brown can tell you all about the Fourth of July fireworks in Northport, where he lives. In fact, Brown’s narrated video story, “The flare behind Northport’s Fourth of July fireworks display,” premiers our Meeting Young Journalists Where They Are video storytelling series, which the Sun is publishing online and on social media together with our Benzie County-based sister publication, The Betsie Current.

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Public Health Alert: wildfire smoke affects air quality in Benzie and Leelanau. Some events canceled

The Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department is urging residents to take precautions as wildfire smoke continues to impact air quality across northern Michigan. Some local events have been canceled, and businesses closed, due to the wildfire smoke and air quality. The Glen Arbor Arts Center has closed its Thoreson Farm studio in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District today, July 16. However, the Arts Center’s air-conditioned classroom in Glen Arbor is open this afternoon from 1:30-3 pm. The Leelanau Historical Society has canceled its showing of the Frontier to Freedom documentary tonight at the Leelanau School auditorium. Last night’s benefit concert at the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn near Maple City was also postponed. Tonight’s Music in the Air concert at the Leland Old Art Building is moving indoors (to an air-conditioned space). Stay tuned for further updates. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has issued an air quality alert for Thursday, July 16. Air quality levels in Benzie and Leelanau counties have reached the Unhealthy for Everyone category due to elevated fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from ongoing Canadian and Minnesota wildfires.

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Air quality alerts issued for northern Michigan as wildfire smoke blankets region

Northern Michigan is enveloped in a thick blanket of brown smoke from wildfires in Minnesota and Canada. Among the outdoor events canceled due to the smoke are tonight’s fundraiser concert at the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn near Maple City. The story is the same throughout the region. “We currently can’t see across (Lake Charelvoix),” said Jenny Clasman, executive director of the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce, which canceled an outdoor concert set for Wednesday night. “I can see across the street, but it’s definitely foggy, cloudy. There is ash on our cars right now and it smells like burning tires.” Clasman, who has asthma, said she was having a hard time breathing and was wearing an N-95 mask outdoors.

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Video spotlight: Reading the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July

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Every year on the Fourth of July at 10 am, groups gather to read the Declaration of Independence at each Post Office in Leelanau County. These videos feature readings of the Declaration at Post Offices in Glen Arbor and Empire on July 4, 2026—the semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth.

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St. Wenceslaus Parish concludes weekend masses

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Whether directly or indirectly connected to the Gill’s Pier Catholic Church, the termination of full-service masses at “the church in the orchard,” St. Wenceslaus, and moving to limited use, is a historic and cultural loss, a communal and civic loss, and ultimately a loss of vital Leelanau County history. Honored as a Michigan Historical Site both for the church and cemetery, St. Wenceslaus has witnessed almost 136 years of Leelanau County History. It stands as a testament to the births, baptisms, confirmations, weddings, deaths, and many celebrations of this interwoven farming community. By changing to “limited use,” this means a loss of social services, a loss of spiritual education, and ultimately loss of a place of prayer.

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